Container transport apparatus

ABSTRACT

The disclosure describes a container transport apparatus comprising conveyor means for conveying containers along a predetermined path, container-receiving means positioned at the end of the conveyor means, and gating means, positioned in advance of the container-receiving means and above the path of the containers. The gating means is in synchronization with the container-receiving means thereby effecting a continuous flow of containers from the conveyor means to the receiving means.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Arthur A. Voris, Jr. 1,770,530 7/1930Oslund 198/22 Inglewood, Calif. 2,285,267 6/1942 Gantzer... 198/22 [21]Appl. No. 815,081 2,352,761 7/1944 Bell 198/34 UX [22] Filed 1969Primary xaminerEvon C. Blunk [45 1 Pat?med Sept 7 AssistantExaminer-Alfred N. Goodman [731 Assgnee sunda'd CmPanY Attorneys-ArthurG. Gilkes, William T. McClain and Ralph Chicagm c. Medhurst [54]CONTAINER TRANSPORT APPARATUS 4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 198/102, ABSTRACT; The disclosure describes a containertransport 198N5 198/165 apparatus comprising conveyor means forconveying con- Illl- 8 37/00 tainers along a predetermined path,container-receiving [50] Field of Search 198/ 102, means positioned atthe end of the conveyor means and gap 22, 22 34, 2&221/251 ing means,positioned in advance of the container-receiving means and above thepath of the containers, The gating means [56] References Clted is insynchronization with the container-receiving means UNITED STATES PATENTSthereby effecting a continuous flow of containers from the 1,693,67412/1928 Smith et a1 221/251 conveyor means to the receiving means.

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INVENTOR; Arthur A. Var/s, Jr.

CONTAINER TRANSPORT APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the fieldof plastics, as in general, it has become more common to mechanize manyoperations which were once manual; however, in many cases problems havearisen from such mechanization. Such is the case in the mechanizedtransport of containers. Mechanized transport of containers requiressynchronized operations for handling such containers to avoid havingthem damaged, broken or backlogged. More specifically, one problem hasbeen to develop an efi'icient gating means to control the flow of suchcontainers as they are being transported by a conveyor means along apredetermined path toward a receiving means. In one case, for example,it has become desirable to transfer plastic containers from a conveyormeans to a receiving means, which is comprised of a continuous chainmoving sinuously in a vertical plane through a drying oven. Thereceiving means has horizontally extending arms capable of accepting thecontainers and retaining them while they travel on their way through theoven. However, the transfer of the containers in this case is plagued byinefficiency if the containers are not properly timed so that each onearrives at the horizontally extending arm at precisely the right time tobe accepted thereby. Prior art solutions to this problem have been toconstruct a gating means to obstruct the path of the conveyed containersto prevent them from arriving at the receiving means when there is noarm to accept them. Such gating means have generally been of the typehaving two pins one extending from either side of the path. When thegate is actuated, the pins engage the container's periphery so as tointerrupt the flow of containers. These prior art gating means have notbeen wholly satisfactory in that the two pins must be synchronized sothat one pin does not release prematurely and cause the container tobecome misaligned and thus perhaps smear the printing which is intendedto be dried in the oven. Improper synchronization of the two pins mayalso cause the cup to turn completely around so that it will arrive atthe receiving means facing the wrong direction. Another inherent problemof having two pins synchronized in the gating means is that if acontainer happens to be exactly between these pins when the gating meansis activated, causing the pins to be extended inwardly, the containerwill be trapped and cracked thereby. The invention of this disclosureprovides a gating means, used in combination with a conveyor means and areceiving means, which avoids these prior art problems.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention can be broadly described as acontainer transport apparatus comprising conveyor means for conveyingcontainers along a predetermined path, container-receiving meanspositioned at the end of the conveyor means, and gating means positionedin advance of the container-receiving means and above the path of thecontainers in synchronization with the container-receiving meanseffecting a continuous flow of containers from the conveyor means to thereceiving means. The gating means is in synchronization with thecontainer-receiving means so that the flow of containers along thepredetermined path is regulated in such a manner that the receivingmeans does not damage containers but readily accepts them. Desirably,the conveyor means is comprised of two parallel conveyor belts whichengage the containers at their outer peripheries, the containers beingfreely suspended from the belts except for a shelf engaging the loweredges of their sidewalls, thereby holding them in a tilted position. Thecontainer conveyor means continuously conveys containers beneath thegating means and to a container-receiving means. The timing of thearrival of the containers at the receiving means is most important sinceeach container must be in exact position to be accepted by thecontainer-receiving means or it will fall from the conveyor meansthereby interrupting the continuity of the process and damaging ordestroying the container.

The gating means is synchronized with the container-receiving means andprecisely controls the flow of containers thereto. When necessary tomomentarily stop the container and prevent it from arriving at the endof the conveyor means at a time when the receiving means could notaccept it, the gating means is actuated to thrust downwardly from abovea pin which engages the upper portion of the outer periphery of thecontainer. The conveyor means continues to operate while the containeris stopped, but cannot overcome the braking action of the pin. This typeof gating means avoids the problems of the prior art in that gating fromabove eliminates the problems of synchronizing two pins projecting fromthe sides. It also has certain advantages in that the pin comes fromabove and is exactly centered with respect to the containers centralaxis thereby discouraging the container from twisting or rotat-- ingwhile stopped. Also if a container happens to be directly beneath thepin when the gate is activated the conveyor means yields and thecontainer is stopped without breaking it. The

pin itself is only long enough to contact an upper portion of the outerperiphery of the container, thus, there is no chance that it could markor scratch the sidewall of the container if the gate is activatedimmediately after such upper portion of a container periphery passesthereunder.

More specifically, the container conveyor means is comprised of twoparallel conveyor belts which engage the outer periphery of a containerbetween them. The lower edge of the container sidewall rests upon a tiltshelf which supports the container at an angle with respect to thevertical, thus a pickup arm of the container-receiving means of thecontainer transport apparatus which approaches from above to accept acontainer may do so without damaging it. More specifically, thecontainer pickup arm of the container-receiving means passes through thecontainer's mouth thereby causing the container to tilt nearly parallelto the container pickup arm. The container reaches the edge of the tiltshelf in such position and leaves the conveyor belts to rest entirelyupon the pickup arm, whereby transfer is complete. The gating means ofthe container transport apparatus provides the proper timing to effectthe transfer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows the schematic plan view of thecontainer transfer apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view partly in section of the gating means.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in FIG. 1, containertransport apparatus 8.comprises container conveyor means 20, receivingmeans 30, and gating means 40 above the conveyor means 20. Conveyormeans 20 conveys container 10 past gating means 40 to receiving means30. Dual conveyor belts 21 pressing against opposite sides of container10 are used to convey the container 10. When the container 10's loweredge II strikes and rests upon tilt shelf 22, container I0 assumes atilted position. Container 10 in such a position will be engaged by oneof the container pickup arms 31 of container-receiving means 30, uponreaching the end of conveyor means 20. The container pickup arm 31engages the periphery I2 of the container 10 and causes it to be tiltedinto a nearly horizontal position. Container [0 reaches overhanging edge9 of tilt shelf 22 in the nearly horizontal position and leaves duelconveyor belts 2| to rest entirely upon container pickup arm 31, wherebytransfer is complete. Container pickup arms 31 have attached to theirends holding means 32 which engage the interior of container I0 andretains it on receiving means 30 as shown in FIG. 1. Gating means 40,which is shown in greater detail in FIG. 2, controls the timing of thecontainers 10 as they are conveyed along the predetermined path.

Gating Means Gating means 40 is comprised of a frame 41 having a back 42and two sides 43 and 44. The back has a leg 46 attached thereto andextending downward therefrom between the two sides 43 and 44. Leg 46supports sleeve 47 which restricts the motion of container stop means 48to vertical motion, and also serves as a stop to restrict the extent ofits downward projection. Container stop means 48 is comprised of camfollower 53, body 55 and pin 61. Cam 52 engages carn follower 53 ofcontainer stop means 48 so that when the camshaft is rotated by aconnector means, for example, a sprocket wheel 50 and chain (not shown)rotary motion is transmitted from a source not shown), and containerstop means 48 is caused to move vertically. Back 42 also has attachedthereto a camshaft support 49 which supports camshaft 51. Camshaft 51has axially attached thereto cam 52. More specifically, the cam 52causes the container stop means 48 to move upward to its upper position.Spring 54 coacting with spring retainer 56 returns container stop means48 to its lower position as cam 52 continues to rotate. The flow ofcontainers will be prevented when the container stop means 48 is in itslower position and allowed when in its upper position.

Shoe 58 having a hole 59 extends downward from leg 46 in such a mannerthat pin 61 of container stop means 48 protrudes therethrough when inits lower position. Shoe 58 prevents container from creeping upwardalong pin 61 while stopped thereby, as shown in FIG. 2. Forsimplification of FIG. 2 only pin 61 is shown in dashed lines in itslower position; however, it is understood that all of container stopmeans 48 is in such lower position. Shoe 58 also prevents container 10from being lifted into an upright position as container stop means 48 ismoved vertically into its upper position. Shoe 58 is verticallyadjustable to accommodate different-sized containers being conveyed.

The gating means 40 operates in the following manner. To

tainer when this occurs. First, pin 61 has been made adjustableefiectively operate the conveyor means and the receiving means, it isnecessary to control the timing of the containers reaching the receivingmeans. The gating means provides the necessary timing to avoid loss ordestruction of containers, and is synchronized with the receiving means30 by, for example, driving both from the same power source. Bycompensating for the amount of time necessary for a container 10 totravel from the point below pin 61 of container stop means 48 toreceiving means 30, it is possible to provide for the release ofcontainer 10 so that it arrives at the receiving means 30 at preciselythe right time to be accepted. Containers not in proper position as theyapproach the gating means 40 must be stopped and released at a time whenthey will be accepted by the receiving means upon their arrival.

It is intended that container stop means 48, including pin 61, shouldnot come down directly upon a container periphery l2. Occasionally,however, the pin 61 does come down upon the periphery 12 of a container10. But two features have been designed into the gating means 40 toavoid damage to the conby providing for it to be threaded and screwedinto container stop means 48. It can be adjusted so that it contacts theupper periphery 12 of the container 10 only to the extent necessary toprevent the conveying thereof, thus insuring that the container 10 willnot be broken thereby. In addition, such adjustment can be used tofacilitate larger or smaller containers. Secondly, the container stopmeans 48 has been designed to be returned to its lower position as cam52 rotates by spring 54 coacting with spring retainer 56 to avoid thepossibility of the positive force of the cam being imparted to thecontainer. lt is understood that further rotation of cam 52 movescontainer stop means 48 upward and compresses spring 54 allowing passageof containers thereunder. By varying the size of spring 54 in accordancewith the type of container gated, the possibility of breakage can beavoided.

If necessary, gating means 40 can be operated without s ring 54 relyingupon gravit to return container stop means to its lower positlon there yavoiding any additional force,

other than the weight of container stop means 48, being exerted on thecontainer periphery. Also the container stop means 48 can be constructedof aluminum or other lightweight material to minimize its weight. Thesefeatures are coupled with the advantage over the prior art methods ofgating from above to utilize the inherent yield of the dual conveyorbelts 21 so that containers would not be furnished sufficient support toallow them to be broken by the gating means.

I claim:

1. A container transport apparatus comprising: two parallel continuouslymoving belts and a tilt shelf positioned therebelow for conveyingcontainers along a predetermined path; a plurality ofcontainer-receiving means mounted on a conveyor positioned at the end ofthe moving belts; and gating means positioned in advance of thecontainer-receiving means and centered above the path of the containers;said gating means'having a frame, a container stop means movably.mounted on the frame, said container stop means including:

2. The container transport apparatus of claim 1 wherein the two parallelcontinuous moving belts are adjustable to accommodate various-sizedcontainers.

3. The container transport apparatus of claim 1 wherein the shoe meansis adjustable to accommodate various-sized containers.

4. The container transport apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tilt shelfis adjustable to accommodate various-sized containers.

1. A container transport apparatus comprising: two parallel continuouslymoving belts and a tilt shelf positioned therebelow for conveyingcontainers along a predetermined path; a plurality ofcontainer-receiving means mounted on a conveyor positioned at the end ofthe moving belts; and gating means positioned in advance of thecontainer-receiving means and centered above the path of the containers;said gating means having a frame, a container stop means movably mountedon the frame, said container stop means including: an adjustable pin, abody, and a cam follower; said cam follower coupled to the frame inoperating position with the cam follower of the container stop means,the cam follower being in synchronization with the movement of theplurality of container-receiving means; a shoe means coupled to theframe in the path of the adjustable pin having a hole therein to allowprojection of the pin therethrough, the shoe means preventing containersfrom creeping up the pin when engaged thereby.
 2. The containertransport apparatus of claim 1 wherein the two parallel continuousmoving belts are adjustable to accommodate various-sized containers. 3.The container transport apparatus of claim 1 wherein the shoe means isadjustable to accommodate various-sized containers.
 4. The containertransport apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tilt shelf is adjustable toaccommodate various-sized containers.